Contents

He specialized in heavy body checks and agitating opponents. His playing style also prompted his English nickname Robocop for the suit of armor like padding he wore and Tuffe Uffe ("Tough Ulf" in Swedish) in Sweden.

Labels of "dirty player" and "cheap-shot artist" stuck with Samuelsson throughout his NHL career. Later in the 1991 playoffs, in the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Boston Bruins, he delivered a knee on knee hit to Cam Neely. In addition, he ended the career of forward Pierre Mondou with a high stick to the eye while playing for Hartford in a game versus Montreal on March 9, 1985. His knee on knee hits and aggressive play earned him the reputation of a "dirty" player. He was later sucker punched by fellow NHL player Tie Domi shortly after Domi was called for a penalty and had his stick grabbed behind the goal by Samuelsson.

Samuelsson played 1,080 career NHL games, scoring 57 goals and 275 assists for 332 points. He accumulated 2,453 penalty minutes over the course of his career.

During the Nagano Olympics, he was ejected from the Swedish team when it was discovered that he had requested and received a US citizenship. His Swedish citizenship was revoked and he wasn't allowed to play. In 2003, when Sweden permitted double citizenships, Ulf got his Swedish passport back. The entire ordeal was listed as the seventy-second most important international story by the IIHF in their centennial celebrations in 2008.